Transactions Via a User Device in the Proximity of a Seller

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of methods and systems are provided that allow a user to upload inventories, view inventories in the proximity of the user, and/or facilitate transactions over a user device in a simple manner. In an embodiment, a method for transactions comprises loading, by a server at a remote location, an application on a user device of a user, wherein the application allows the user to upload an inventory comprising one or more items and/or services offered for sale by the user, as well as to view on the user device other inventory offered for sale by one or more other users as the user comes into proximity of the one or more other users, and wherein an inventory list maintained at the user device is constantly updated with the other inventory viewed by the user device. The method also comprises receiving, by the server at the remote location, transaction information associated with conducting a transaction in connection with the inventory list over the user device. The method further comprises facilitating, by the server at the remote location, the transaction between the user via the user device and the one or more other users.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/073,553 filed on Mar. 28, 2011, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to transactions,and more particularly, to methods and systems for transactions conductedvia a user device in the proximity of a seller.

2. Related Art

A customer regularly searches for, purchases and pays for productsand/or services from online sellers over communication networks, such asthe Internet. At times, a customer engages in transactions at a seller'slocation and uses a transaction card or cash for payment. Routinely,customers engage in transactions with a variety of sellers by usingtheir mobile device. However, typical ways of engaging in suchtransactions and making payments may be cumbersome and inconvenient. Forexample, a customer may not have enough cash for payment in connectionwith a transaction at a seller's location, or a seller may not be set upto run a credit card for payment. In electronic commerce, a common wayof making payments over the Internet includes using a credit card. Useof a credit card may be inconvenient in that it requires, for example, auser to enter credit card information for each purpose, which may beespecially cumbersome when using a mobile device. Accordingly, there isa need for a simple way of conducting transactions.

SUMMARY

As will be further described herein in relation to various embodiments,methods and systems for transactions conducted via a user device areprovided, allowing a user to easily conduct transactions when the usercomes into a proximity of a seller.

In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, a method fortransactions comprises loading, by a server at a remote location, anapplication on a user device of a user, wherein the application allowsthe user to upload an inventory comprising one or more items and/orservices offered for sale by the user, as well as to view on the userdevice other inventory offered for sale by one or more other users asthe user comes into proximity of the one or more other users, andwherein an inventory list maintained at the user device is constantlyupdated with the other inventory viewed by the user device. The methodalso comprises receiving, by the server at the remote location,transaction information associated with conducting a transaction inconnection with the inventory list over the user device. The methodfurther comprises facilitating, by the server at the remote location,the transaction between the user via the user device and the one or moreother users.

In accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure, a transactionsystem comprises one or more processors; and one or more memoriesadapted to store a plurality of machine-readable instructions which whenexecuted by the one or more processors are adapted to cause thetransaction system to: load, by a server at a remote location, anapplication on a user device of a user, wherein the application allowsthe user to upload an inventory comprising one or more items and/orservices offered for sale by the user, as well as to view on the userdevice other inventory offered for sale by one or more other users asthe user comes into proximity of the one or more other users, andwherein an inventory list maintained at the user device is constantlyupdated with the other inventory viewed by the user device; receive, bythe server at the remote location, transaction information associatedwith conducting a transaction in connection with the inventory list overthe user device; and facilitate, by the server at the remote location,the transaction between the user via the user device and the one or moreother users.

In accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure, anon-transitory computer readable medium on which are stored computerreadable instructions and, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to: load an application on a user device of a user, whereinthe application allows the user to upload an inventory comprising one ormore items and/or services offered for sale by the user, as well as toview on the user device other inventory offered for sale by one or moreother users as the user comes into proximity of the one or more otherusers, and wherein an inventory list maintained at the user device isconstantly updated with the other inventory viewed by the user device;receive transaction information associated with conducting a transactionin connection with the inventory list over the user device; andfacilitate the transaction between the user via the user device and theone or more other users.

These and other features and advantages of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure will be more readily apparent from the detaileddescription of the embodiments set forth below taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transaction system using a serviceprovider according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram for facilitating a transaction using a userdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram for updating inventory for sale on an ad-hocbasis according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for a transaction conducted via a userinterface of a user device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system for implementing a deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Like element numbers in different figures represent the same or similarelements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various embodiments described herein, methods andsystems are provided that enable a user to easily conduct transactionsover a user device. A transaction application, which may be loaded onthe user device from a service provider, enables the user, when the usercomes into a certain proximity of one or more sellers, to see or viewoffers from the seller(s) including, for example, the seller(s)'inventories listed with an asking price, a photograph, a description, anicon and/or any other appropriate identifier. As such, the user devicemay display seller(s)' digital representation of their inventory. Theuser may purchase and make payments for items and/or services offered bythe seller(s) when the user is in a certain proximity of the seller(s).In other embodiments, the user may be a seller and upload inventory forsale. Inventory lists may be kept and be constantly updated with newusers and new inventory lists of available items and/or services. Thetransaction application may be provided by a service provider such asPayPal and/or eBay of San Jose, Calif.

Advantageously, a user may safely and easily conduct transactions withsellers that are associated with the service provider (or that have anactive transaction application) from a location of the user that is inproximity to such sellers. For example, because the user is located inproximity of the sellers, such as in front of a seller's venue or withina hotspot WiFi or Bluetooth range, the user may decide to purchase andpay for an item and/or service offered by the seller over a user device.The user may then transfer payment over the user device in a simple,convenient, and fast manner that is comparable to a cash transaction.

From a seller's perspective, the seller, which is associated with theservice provider or has an active transaction application, may simplifytransactions such as electronic payments without the need for a Point ofSales (POS) machine, laptop computer or other computing device, thusfreeing up space for additional merchandise display. This may beadvantageous for travelling vendors including for example, vendors thatline up at art festivals, concerts, city or country festival days,sporting events and/or the like. Furthermore, this may be advantageousfor sellers that typically may be a “cash only” venue as a result of theinconvenience of having power or Internet access. Such “cash only”venues may easily conduct transactions by taking payments made over auser device according to one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes ofillustrating embodiments of the present disclosure only, and not forpurposes of limiting the same, FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of atransaction system using a service provider according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a block diagram of a system 100 adaptedto facilitate transactions via a user device 120 over a network 160. Asshown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes at least one user device 120(e.g., network computing device), one or more seller servers or devices140 (e.g., network server devices), and at least one service providerserver or device 180 (e.g., network server device) in communication overthe network 160.

The network 160, in one embodiment, may be implemented as a singlenetwork or a combination of multiple networks. For example, in variousembodiments, the network 160 may include the Internet and/or one or moreintranets, landline networks, wireless networks, and/or otherappropriate types of communication networks. In another example, thenetwork 160 may comprise a wireless telecommunications network (e.g.,cellular phone network) adapted to communicate with other communicationnetworks, such as the Internet. As such, in various embodiments, theuser device 120, seller servers or devices 140, and service providerserver or device 180 may be associated with a particular link (e.g., alink, such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to an IP (InternetProtocol) address).

The user device 120, in various embodiments, may be implemented usingany appropriate combination of hardware and/or software configured forwired and/or wireless communication over the network 160. In variousexamples, the user device 120 may be implemented as a wireless telephone(e.g., cellular, mobile, etc.), a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a personal computer, a notebook computer, and/orvarious other generally known types of wired and/or wireless computingdevices. It should be appreciated that the user device 120 may bereferred to as a client device or a customer device without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

The user device 120, in one embodiment, includes a user interfaceapplication 122, which may be utilized by the user 102 to conducttransactions such as financial transactions (e.g., shopping, purchasing,bidding, etc.) with the service provider server 180 over the network160. In one aspect, purchase expenses may be directly and/orautomatically debited from an account related to the user 102 via theuser interface application 122, in a manner as described herein.

In one implementation, the user interface application 122 comprises asoftware program, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), executableby a processor that is configured to interface and communicate with theservice provider server 180 via the network 160. In anotherimplementation, the user interface application 122 comprises a browsermodule that provides a network interface to browse information availableover the network 160. For example, the user interface application 122may be implemented, in part, as a web browser to view informationavailable over the network 160. In another example, the user 102 is ableto access seller websites or lists of inventories via the one or moreseller servers or devices 140 to view and select items and/or servicesfor purchase, and the user 102 is able to purchase items and/or servicesfrom the one or more seller servers or devices 140 via the serviceprovider server 180. Accordingly, the user 102 may conduct transactionssuch as financial transactions (e.g., view, purchase and pay for itemsand/or services) from the one or more seller servers or devices 140 viathe service provider server 180.

The user device 120, in various embodiments, may include otherapplications 128 as may be desired in one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure to provide additional features available to the user102. In one example, such other applications 128 may include securityapplications for implementing client-side security features,programmatic client applications for interfacing with appropriateapplication programming interfaces (APIs) over the network 160, and/orvarious other types of generally known programs and/or softwareapplications. In still other examples, the other applications 128 mayinterface with the user interface application 122 for improvedefficiency and convenience.

According to one or more embodiments, the user interface application 122or the other applications 128 include a transaction application that maybe loaded on user device 120 by service provider server 180. Suchtransaction application enables user 102 to see sellers that areassociated with service provider server 180 with their inventorieslisted as user 102 comes into a proximity of the sellers. User 102 maythen decide to purchase and easily make payments for items and/orservices offered by the sellers over user device 120. In variousembodiments, the transaction application enables user 102 to be a buyeror a seller, that is, as an average user, user 102 may enter the freemarket and upload inventory to be offered for sale as will be describedin further detail below.

User device 120, in one embodiment, may include at least one useridentifier 130, which may be implemented, for example, as operatingsystem registry entries, cookies associated with the user interfaceapplication 122, identifiers associated with hardware of the user device120, or various other appropriate identifiers. The user identifier 130may include one or more attributes related to user 102, such as personalinformation related to user 102 (e.g., one or more user names,passwords, photograph images, biometric IDs, addresses, phone numbers,etc.) and banking information and/or funding sources (e.g., one or morebanking institutions, credit card issuers, user account numbers,security data and information, etc.). In various implementations, useridentifier 130 may be passed with a user login request to the serviceprovider server 180 via the network 160, and the user identifier 130 maybe used by the service provider server 180 to associate the user 102with a particular user account maintained by the service provider server180, in a manner as described herein.

The one or more seller servers or devices 140, in various embodiments,may be maintained by one or more individuals or business entities (or insome cases, by a partner of a business entity that processestransactions on behalf of business entities). It should be appreciatedthat individuals or business entities may also be referred to as“sellers” or “merchants” without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Examples of sellers include individuals and also merchantsites, resource information sites, utility sites, real estate managementsites, social networking sites, etc., which offer various items and/orservices for purchase and payment. In some embodiments, sellers may needregistration of the user identity information as part of offering theitems and/or services to the user 102 over the network 160. As such,each of the one or more seller servers 140 may include a seller database142 for identifying available items and/or services, which may be madeavailable to the user device 120 for viewing and purchase by the user102. It should be appreciated that although a user-seller transaction isillustrated in this embodiment, the system may also be applicable touser-user, seller-seller and/or seller-user transactions. In someembodiments, any user may be a seller or a buyer.

Each of the seller servers or devices 140, in one embodiment, mayinclude a marketplace application 144, which may be configured toprovide information over the network 160 to the user interfaceapplication 122 of the user device 120. For example, the user 102 mayinteract with the marketplace application 144 through the user interfaceapplication 122 over the network 160 to search and view various itemsand/or services available for purchase in the seller database 142.According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, thevarious items and/or services available in the seller database 142 maybe displayed to user 102 via user device 120 as user 102 comes into acertain proximity (or within a certain range) of a seller.

Each of the seller servers or devices 140, in one embodiment, mayinclude a checkout application 146, which may be configured tofacilitate online financial transactions (e.g., purchase transactions)by the user 102 of items and/or services identified by the marketplaceapplication 144. As such, in one aspect, the checkout application 146may be configured to accept payment information from the user 102 overthe network 160.

Each of the seller servers or devices 140, in one embodiment, mayinclude at least one seller identifier 148, which may be included aspart of the one or more items and/or services made available forpurchase so that, e.g., particular items and/or services are associatedwith particular sellers. In one implementation, the seller identifier148 may include one or more attributes and/or parameters related to theseller, such as business and banking information. User 102 may conducttransactions such as financial transactions (e.g., selection,monitoring, purchasing, and/or providing payment for items and/orservices) with each seller server 140 via the service provider server180 over the network 160.

The service provider server 180, in one embodiment, may be maintained bya transaction processing entity, which may provide processing forfinancial transactions and/or information transactions between the user102 and one or more of the seller servers 140. As such, the serviceprovider server 180 includes a service application 182, which may beadapted to interact with each user device 120 and/or each seller server140 over the network 160 to facilitate the selection, purchase, and/orpayment of items and/or services by the user 102 from one or more of theseller servers 140. In one example, the service provider server 180 maybe provided by PayPal, Inc. and/or eBay of San Jose, Calif., USA.

The service application 182, in one embodiment, utilizes a paymentprocessing module 184 to process purchases and/or payments for financialtransactions between the user 102 and each of the seller servers 140. Inone implementation, the payment processing module 184 assists withresolving financial transactions through validation, delivery, andsettlement. As such, the service application 182 in conjunction with thepayment processing module 184 settles indebtedness between the user 102and each of the seller servers 140, wherein accounts may be directlyand/or automatically debited and/or credited of monetary funds in amanner as accepted by the banking industry.

The service provider server 180, in one embodiment, may be configured tomaintain one or more user accounts and seller accounts in an accountdatabase 192, each of which may include account information 194associated with one or more individual users (e.g., user 102) andsellers (e.g., one or more sellers associated with seller servers 140).For example, account information 194 may include private financialinformation of each user 102 and each seller associated with the one ormore seller servers 140, such as one or more account numbers, passwords,credit card information, banking information, or other types offinancial information, which may be used to facilitate financialtransactions between the user 102 and the one or more sellers associatedwith the seller servers 140. In various aspects, the methods and systemsdescribed herein may be modified to accommodate users and/or sellersthat may or may not be associated with at least one existing useraccount and/or seller account, respectively.

In one implementation, the user 102 may have identity attributes storedwith the service provider server 180, and the user 102 may havecredentials to authenticate or verify identity with the service providerserver 180. User attributes may include personal information, bankinginformation and/or funding sources as previously described. In variousaspects, the user attributes may be passed to the service providerserver 180 as part of a login, selection, purchase, and/or paymentrequest, and the user attributes may be utilized by the service providerserver 180 to associate the user 102 with one or more particular useraccounts maintained by the service provider server 180.

The transaction system described above with respect to the embodiment ofFIG. 1 may be used to set up and facilitate transactions using a userdevice wherein a user may view inventories offered by sellers within acertain proximity to the user or user device. In various embodiments,the user may be a seller or a buyer.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, a flow diagram for facilitating a transactionusing a user device is illustrated according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. According to one or more embodiments, the flowdiagram of FIG. 2A may be implemented by system 100 of FIG. 1.

In block 202, when user 102 (referring also to FIG. 1) has apre-existing account with service provider server 180 wherein user 102has identity attributes stored with service provider server 180 asdescribed above, user 102 may download a transaction application on userdevice 120 from service provider server 180. The transaction applicationmay allow user 102 to see or view associated sellers with their listedinventories on user device 120 as user 102 comes into a certainproximity of the sellers. In one or more embodiments, the transactionapplication may allow any user to also be a seller and offer inventoriesincluding items and/or services for sale as will be described in furtherdetail below with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 2B.

In block 204, user 102 may turn on the transaction application and viewone or more offers by sellers in the proximity of user 102 listing theirinventories. According to one or more embodiments, user 102 may be inthe proximity of one or more sellers, for example, when user 102 comeswithin a certain distance, area or radius of the sellers, or when user102 is within a certain hotspot WiFi, Bluetooth range, or the like. Forexample, an appropriate proximity may be when user 102 comes within aradius of a seller set at approximately 100 yards, 500 yards, 1000yards, etc., or when user 102 is standing in the vicinity, or in frontof the sellers' location.

According to one or more embodiments, sellers may list their inventoriesincluding items and/or services offering such items and/or services withan asking price, one or more photographs, descriptions, icons and/or anyapplicable identifiers of the items and/or services. In an embodiment,user device 120 holds the sellers' digital representation of theirinventory. User 102 may browse the offered sellers' inventoriesmaintained on seller server or device 140 and may decide to purchase aselected item and/or service, as will be described in further detailwith respect to FIG. 3 according to one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2B, a flow diagram for updating inventory for sale onan ad-hoc basis is illustrated according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In block 252, any average user that may want to list itemsand/or services for sale, for example, on an ad-hoc basis, may use thetransaction application to be a seller and upload items and/or servicesto be offered sale along with corresponding prices, descriptions,photographs, icons, etc. In this regard, such user may declare globalvariables for identification of items and/or services, for example, theuser may have a unique identifier and declare a variable such as aUnique Application Identifier (“UniqueAppID”) as well as LocationServices (“GpsLoc”). These two variables may be used as a primary key onan ITEMS table as illustrated below in Table 1 as an example.

In an embodiment, any user that wants to sell any item and/or servicemay simply take a picture of the item and/or service (“image.png”) withhis or her user device and quickly enter a description of the itemand/or service (“ItemDesc”) and an asking price (“AskPrice”). Then, anItem Number (“ItemNum”) may be created by using part or all of the“UniqueAppID” and adding the Item Number on a database as a selfregulating incrementing number. The database may be a list that includesspecific fields with built-in commands such as ADD/REMOVE and QUERY forresults.

It should be appreciated that the Item Number may be tied to anyappropriate identifier including a user identifier, a user deviceidentifier such as a phone number, or any other identifier, as well as aknown geo location. That is, a unique item and/or service may beuploaded and tagged with an Item Number that may reflect a uniqueapplication identifier and a geo location. In an example, if‘UniqueAppID’=‘123456’ and the user creates a first item, then‘ItemNum’=‘1234560001’. All of these 6 digits of the item as well as aDate/Timestamp, asking price, item description, photo, etc., may also beadded to the ITEMS table as illustrated in Table 1 below:

TABLE 1 ITEMS Table Unique GpsLoc ItemNum AskPrice ItemDesc Image.pngDate/Timestamp App ID

In block 254 of FIG. 2B, when a user acting as an ad-hoc seller having afirst user device with a transaction application loaded thereinapproaches other ad-hoc sellers or comes within a certain range, forexample within a hotspot WiFi or/Bluetooth range of any other userdevices having an active transaction application loaded therein, allitems listed on the ITEMS table of the first user device may be comparedwith listed items of other sellers within the certain range.

In block 256, once the inventories are compared, any missing uniquerecords may be added. The first user device may then display all itemsand/or services available for sale that do not belong to the first userdevice, so that the items and/or services that the user is selling maybe filtered off the user's own viewable list. That is, the transactionapplication of the first user device may compare each “ItemNum”corresponding to items and/or services listed by other user devices ofproximate sellers, and if such items and/or services do not exist in thefirst user device's item list, such items and/or services may be addedto the first user device's item list.

In block 258, as the first user device comes within a certain range ofother sellers, the list of items and/or services may be updated with theother sellers' items and/or services. The list may be constantly updated(e.g., in the background) as the list may be ever evolving withindifferent ranges of even further sellers.

Inventory listings of available items and/or services may be maintainedby the user device based on an item identifier such as a phone numberwith a geo location attached to it. In this manner, the inventories arenot listed just by location, for example, by state or city, but everyitem and/or service may be listed based on where the user device hasbeen or is located such that the inventory listings reflect what theuser device itself has seen.

By having each user device search and quickly upload entries regardingitems and/or services for sale, a network is allowed to build in a geolocation, which may be larger than, for example, a normal WIFI AccessPoint. As users walk around, the lists may get more unique sellers withgeneral GPS location. Advantageously, an ad-hoc like network may remainor survive even if one user goes offline, for example, even if one userdevice's battery dies, or if users clear their own lists frequently, orother like circumstances.

According to one or more embodiments, the Date/Timestamp field (e.g. asillustrated in Table 1 above) may allow items and/or services to have aTime To Live (“TTL”) status that a user's individual settings may hold.If the user wants to set his or her TTL for a certain period of time,for example a set number of hours or days, this would be of littleconsequence to the larger network of ad-hoc sharing. In variousexamples, the user may set a timeline such that entries on a list ofitems and/or services may be deleted when they are 24 hours old, or thelist may be flushed completely.

Furthermore, the user may be allowed to control how much space to fillin the user device such as in memory. Allowing users to cap their listsof items and/or services may benefit older user devices such assmartphones. But as user devices evolve, space may increase and the userdevice, e.g., a smart phone, may become more similar to a POS item.

According to an embodiment, if a user would like to purchase an itemand/or service, or if a user would like to request updated information,the user may be informed of a direction to head to in order to get inrange of the appropriate seller. Once in range, higher resolutionphotos, for example, may be acquired.

In an embodiment, the transaction application may be running in thebackground with location services. As the user walks around, the list ofitems and/or services may be updated offering unique options, which theuser may decide to walk to and purchase.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, thetransaction application may allow a first user device to carry two setsof inventories. One inventory may include all items and/or services withcorresponding photos and details taken by a first user (e.g., a “RootUser” or owner of the first user device). A second inventory may includeall ad-hoc shared non Root User items and/or services. With these twoseparate inventory lists, any user running the transaction applicationmay turn on or off his or her own items and/or services, and also browseeveryone else's on or off inventory listings.

In various embodiments, as described above, the transaction applicationmay allow users to communicate, for example in an ad-hoc basis, a listof items and/or services to other user devices so that all items and/orservices on each user device may be the same list for all the userdevices. Because the transaction application according to an embodimentmay transfer data in the background, for example using a simple set oflogic gates to ensure only unique items and/or services are listed, andno duplicates exist on those lists, any user would only see active itemsand/or services in their general location. By way of example and not oflimitation, this may be similar to someone connecting to a website anddoing a search, wherein the website may contact a server to requestavailable data.

Referring back to FIG. 2A, in block 206, if user 102 decides to accept aseller's offer and purchase and pay for a selected item and/or serviceoffered by a seller in the proximity of user 102, details of thetransaction may be transferred to service provider server 180. In anembodiment, once user 102 decides to purchase and pay for the selecteditem and/or service, service provider server 180 may be used to effectthe payment. A login screen may be shown on an interface of user device120 wherein user 102 may log in by entering, for example, a Username andPassword to access his or her pre-existing account with service providerserver 180 and may also choose to make payment for the selected itemand/or service. In an embodiment, user 102 may review the purchasedetails before completing payment and may decide to change, for example,payment arrangements such as funding sources. For example, user 102 maychoose a specific credit card as a funding source. Once user 102 hasreviewed and agreed to the purchase details, user 102 completes payment.

In block 208, service provider server 180 may facilitate the transactionand may log and provide receipts for the transaction. As described abovewith respect to FIG. 1 according to one or more embodiments, serviceprovider server 180 may facilitate the transaction via paymentprocessing module 184 to process transactions between user 102 and eachof the seller servers 140. In one implementation, payment processingmodule 184 assists with resolving financial transactions throughvalidation, delivery, and settlement. As such, the service application182 in conjunction with the payment processing module 184 settlesindebtedness between user 102 and each of the sellers 140, whereinaccounts may be directly and/or automatically debited and/or credited ofmonetary funds in a manner as accepted by the banking industry.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram for a transaction conducted viaa user interface of a user device is illustrated according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. According to one or moreembodiments, user device 120 of FIG. 1 may include a user interface asillustrated in FIG. 3, which may interact, for example, with userinterface application 122.

When a user has a pre-existing account with service provider server 180(also referring to FIG. 1) and user 102 has downloaded a transactionapplication on the user's user device from service provider server 180,user 102 may turn on the transaction application to allow user 102 tosee or view sellers with their listed inventories on the user device 120as user 102 comes into a certain proximity of the sellers. In thisregard, in block 301 of the embodiment of FIG. 3, a user interface 302of the user device may display a simple list of all sellers in the area,for example, sellers 304: Seller A, Seller B, Seller C, etc., as a userenters the proximity of such sellers. That is, when a user comes withina certain proximity or radius of sellers 304, the list of sellers in thearea are displayed on user interface 302. Also, as described above withrespect to the embodiment of FIG. 2B, user 102 may be able to upload hisor her inventory list in an ad-hoc basis.

In block 303, the user may select to view a particular listed seller inthe area. For example, the user may select Seller A, which would expandto show its corresponding inventory. Seller A's inventory may includevarious items and/or services 312 available and offered by Seller A.

In an embodiment, the user may be notified of sellers in the area onceone is detected. Conversely, sellers may be notified of a user's requestwhen the user is in a proximate location.

In one or more embodiments, users may take trips to establishments orevents such as an in-town circus, concerts, sporting events, etc. Suchtrips may be easier for users having a transaction application, whichallows the users to see what sellers are located in the area. Sellersassociated with service provider server180 (having an account with theserver provider or an active transaction application) may display offersand inventories to such users. In one example, a user may walk up to aticket counter at a sports event or concert to view any offeredinventory, i.e., available tickets for the event. In this example, theuser may go to a door or a ticket taker, who may sell the user ane-ticket to the event if maximum capacity has not been reached. Inanother example, bars charging a “cover charge” may be transacted viaservice provider server 180, for example, for those occasions when theuser may want to start a tab, but did not have enough cash to get in thedoor. As such, the transaction application loaded on the user's userdevice may replace cash transactions for nearly any situation.

In block 305, the user may select a particular item and/or service fromseller A, for example, an Item/Service A. User interface 302 thenexpands to show details 314 about Item/Service A including for example,a photograph, a description and/or a price for Item/Service A.

In one embodiment, sellers may display their location or broadcast theirlocations, for example, if a user optionally requests to locate a sellerfor the item the user has selected, for example by selecting input 317.For instance, Seller A may display its location if the user requests thelocation upon selecting Item/Service A.

In other embodiments, sellers may promote certain items and/or productsby, for example, listing a tag line or phrase (i.e., shout out). Forexample, a tag line or phrase such as “Get your Popcorn here!” may bedisplayed as a pop-up notification on user interface 302 if the userselects it. That is, if the user chooses to see it, one-lineadvertisements may be displayed from sellers in the area.

In block 307, the user may decide to review and purchase Item/Service Aand select an input 315 labeled “PAY” to proceed to payment.

In block 309, the user may log in to service provider server 180 andprovide authentication credentials such as a Username 318 and a Password319. However, any suitable authentication credentials may be used as maybe appropriate to associate the user with a user account maintained byservice provider 180. Optionally, the user may review the purchasedetails and may choose to, for example, choose a different fundingsource such as a different credit card as indicated by reference numeral321. Once the user reviews and approves the transactions, the user maycomplete the transaction by selecting an interface 322 labeled “BuyNow”.

Optionally, an agreement may be acknowledged prior to every transaction,stating that any transactions, e.g., purchases made via the transactionapplication may be covered by any Buyer protections, insurances orwarranties.

In block 311, user interface 302 illustrates that the purchase forItem/Service A is completed. Optionally, a subtotal, tax and totalamount may be displayed.

It should be appreciated that inputs on user interface 302 illustratedherein with respect to the embodiment of FIG. 3 may be labeled with anysuitable label as appropriate for the desired purposes. Also, userinterface 302 may display or utilize any suitable interfaces or inputsfor entering or selecting data such as buttons, a touch screen, akeypad, a keyboard, voice recognition, or any other suitable inputdevices.

According to one or more embodiments, all users having a transactionapplication from the service provider may act as a buyer with no actionrequired on their account and could use the transaction application topurchase available offered items once downloaded. In other embodiments,users may also act as sellers.

Sellers offering inventories via the transaction application may submita mobile business plan and inventory for review by the service providerfor potential risk detection. Accordingly, the transaction applicationmakes it safe and easy to transact with sellers associated with theservice provider as described above from a location right where the useris located. Furthermore, because the user or buyer is standing in frontof the seller and it is the user's conscious decision to send a payment,no claims for example, for non-receipt, may be necessary and would notbe available to the user. Also, the user or buyer may transfer smallcash like payments for an item and/or service that the user is agreeingto at the speed of a cash transaction.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 suitable for implementingembodiments of the present disclosure, including user device 120, one ormore seller servers or devices 140, and service provider server ordevice 180. System 400, such as part of a cell phone, mobile phone,smart phone, personal computer and/or a network server, includes a bus402 or other communication mechanism for communicating information,which interconnects subsystems and components, including one or more ofa processing component 404 (e.g., processor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor (DSP), etc.), a system memory component 406 (e.g.,RAM), a static storage component 408 (e.g., ROM), a network interfacecomponent 412, a display component 414 (or alternatively, an interfaceto an external display), an input component 416 (e.g., keypad orkeyboard), and a cursor control component 418 (e.g., a mouse pad).

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, system 400performs specific operations by processor 404 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in system memorycomponent 406. Such instructions may be read into system memorycomponent 406 from another computer readable medium, such as staticstorage component 408. These may include instructions to processfinancial transactions, make payments, etc. In other embodiments,hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware instructions for implementation of one or more embodiments ofthe disclosure.

Logic may be encoded in a non-transitory computer readable medium, whichmay refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions toprocessor 404 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms,including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, andtransmission media. In various implementations, volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as system memory component 406, and transmissionmedia includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, includingwires that comprise bus 402. Memory may be used to store visualrepresentations of the different options for payments or transactions.In one example, transmission media may take the form of acoustic orlight waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared datacommunications. Some common forms of computer readable media include,for example, RAM, PROM, EPROM, FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer isadapted to read.

In various embodiments of the disclosure, execution of instructionsequences to practice the disclosure may be performed by system 400. Invarious other embodiments, a plurality of systems 400 coupled bycommunication link 420 (e.g., network 160 of FIG. 1, LAN, WLAN, PTSN, orvarious other wired or wireless networks) may perform instructionsequences to practice the disclosure in coordination with one another.System 400 may transmit and receive messages, data, information andinstructions, including one or more programs (i.e., application code)through communication link 420 and communication interface 412. Receivedprogram code may be executed by processor 404 as received and/or storedin disk drive component 410 or some other non-volatile storage componentfor execution.

In view of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that variousmethods and systems have been described according to one or moreembodiments for allowing a user to view inventories offered by sellersin the proximity of the user as well as facilitating payment options fortransactions in connection with such inventories over a user device withminimal key entries.

Although various components and steps have been described herein asbeing associated with user device 120, seller server 140, and paymentservice provider server 180 of FIG. 1, it is contemplated that thevarious aspects of such servers illustrated in FIG. 1 may be distributedamong a plurality of servers, devices, and/or other entities.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the spirit of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components, andvice-versa.

Software in accordance with the present disclosure, such as program codeand/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readable mediums. Itis also contemplated that software identified herein may be implementedusing one or more general purpose or specific purpose computers and/orcomputer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Where applicable, theordering of various steps described herein may be changed, combined intocomposite steps, and/or separated into sub-steps to provide featuresdescribed herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. It iscontemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modifications tothe present disclosure, whether explicitly described or implied herein,are possible in light of the disclosure.

Having thus described embodiments of the disclosure, persons of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form anddetail without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus thedisclosure is limited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: one or more processors; andone or more memories adapted to store a plurality of machine-readableinstructions which when executed by the one or more processors areadapted to cause the system to: update an inventory list maintained at auser device with inventory viewed by the user device, the inventoryhaving attached thereto a previous location or a current location ofwhere the inventory was viewed on the user device; compare the inventorylist with inventory maintained on one or more other user devices inproximate range of the user device; and add new inventory to theinventory list of the user device when the new inventory exists in theinventory maintained on the one or more other user devices but does notexist in the inventory list of the user device.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the plurality of instructions which when executed by theprocessor(s) further cause the system to: display, on the user device,the inventory maintained on the one or more other user devices that isoffered for sale as the user device comes into proximity of the one ormore other user devices.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof instructions which when executed by the processor(s) further causethe system to: upload a digital representation of an inventorycomprising one or more items or services offered for sale by a user ofthe user device.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the plurality ofinstructions which when executed by the processor(s) further cause thesystem to: identify the one or more items or services by globalvariables including at least an item number comprising a uniqueidentifier and a location services variable.
 5. The system of claim 4,wherein the plurality of instructions which when executed by theprocessor(s) further cause the system to: compare each item numbercorresponding to the one or more items or services offered for sale bythe user of the user device with an item number corresponding to itemsand/or services listed by other user(s) via the one or more other userdevice(s) in proximate range; if the items and/or services listed by theother user(s) do not exist in the user device's inventory list, addnon-existent items to the inventory list of the user device; and displayall items or services listed that do not belong to the user device suchthat the items and/or services offered for sale by the user of the userdevice are filtered off the user's own viewable inventory list.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions which whenexecuted by the processor(s) further cause the system to: receivetransaction information associated with conducting a transaction inconnection with the inventory list over the user device; and process thetransaction between a user via the user device and the one or more otheruser devices.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the proximate rangecomprises a distance, area, radius or location within a vicinity orright outside a venue of the one or more other user devices, or within astandard wireless communication technology range.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein the plurality of instructions which when executed by theprocessor(s) further cause the system to: set a timeline for one or moreitems or services of the inventory list via an individual user'ssettings on the user device.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theplurality of instructions which when executed by the processor(s)further cause the system to: cap the inventory list based on control bya user of the user device.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein theplurality of instructions which when executed by the processor(s)further cause the system to: carry two separate sets of inventories,wherein one inventory includes at least one or more items or servicesoffered for sale by a user of the user device, and a second inventoryincludes the inventory of the one or more other user devices that isoffered for sale, such that any user is allowed to turn on or off his orher own inventory, and also browse any other user's on or off inventory.11. A method comprising: updating an inventory list maintained at a userdevice with inventory viewed by the user device, the inventory havingattached thereto a previous location or a current location of where theinventory was viewed on the user device; comparing the inventory listwith inventory maintained on one or more other user devices in proximaterange of the user device; and adding new inventory to the inventory listof the user device when the new inventory exists in the inventorymaintained on the one or more other user devices, but does not exist inthe inventory list of the user device.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising displaying, on the user device, the inventorymaintained on the one or more other user devices that is offered forsale as a user of the user device comes into proximity of the one ormore other user devices.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprisinguploading a digital representation of an inventory comprising one ormore items or services offered for sale by a user of the user device.14. The method of claim 13, further comprising identifying the one ormore items or services by global variables including at least an itemnumber comprising a unique identifier and a location services variable.15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: comparing each itemnumber corresponding to the one or more items or services offered forsale by the user of the user device with each item number correspondingto items and/or services listed by other user(s) via the one or moreother user device(s) in proximate range; if the items or services listedby the other user(s) do not exist in the user device's inventory list,adding non-existent items to the inventory list of the user device; anddisplaying all items or services listed that do not belong to the userdevice such that the items or services offered for sale by the user ofthe user device are filtered off the user's own viewable inventory list.16. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving transactioninformation associated with conducting a transaction in connection withthe inventory list over the user device; and processing the transactionbetween a user via the user device and the one or more other userdevices.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising setting atimeline for one or more items or services included in the inventorylist via an individual user's settings on the user device.
 18. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising capping the inventory list basedon control by a user of the user device.
 19. The method of claim 11,further comprising carrying two separate sets of inventories, whereinone inventory includes at least one or more items or services offeredfor sale by a user of the user device, and a second inventory includesthe inventory of the one or more other user devices that is offered forsale, such that any user is allowed to turn on or off his or her owninventory, and also browse any other user's on or off inventory.
 20. Anon-transitory computer readable medium on which are stored computerreadable instructions and, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to: update an inventory list maintained at a user device withinventory viewed by the user device, the inventory having attachedthereto a previous location or a current location of where the inventorywas viewed on the user device; compare the inventory list with inventorymaintained on one or more other user devices in proximate range of theuser device; and add new inventory to the inventory list maintained onthe user device when the new inventory exists in the inventory of theone or more other user devices, but does not exist in the inventory listof the user device.